


Together: A Fox Appreciation

by booksareourlove



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Brotp, Dan and Matt have adopted Neil, Exy, Gen, Kevin Day & Jeremy Knox - Freeform, Renee and Kevin are best friends FIGHT ME, Stickball, University Life, What Does The Fox Say, aaron minyard is a softie, aftgcelebrations, an Exy game!! I write sport I am impressed by my skills, bromance & positivity, canon compliant fox moments observed by others, drunk shenanigans?, genweek, i'm shipping my OCs with each other I am a mess, mention of almost dates and gay pining, my OCs are having a life of their own, the best and brightest platonics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-01 07:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13993797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booksareourlove/pseuds/booksareourlove
Summary: The Foxpaw, the new Exy themed cafe on Palmetto State University campus, opens. Sometimes the Exy team can be found there. A series of losely connected oneshots in which strangers are in the right place at the right time to see moments of likely and unlikely friendships.Written for GenWeek, in the All For The Game Fandom Celebrations 2018.





	1. Day One (Andrew & Kaitlyn)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is basically just... platonic fluff.  
> So far, I have one chapter a day planned for this week but we'll see how it goes!
> 
> Find genweek and other appreciation weeks at aftgcelebrations.tumblr.com
> 
> Also follow me at thespacebetweenworlds.tumblr.com I blog about aftg

When Mae finally made her way across Palmetto state campus to visit The Foxpaw, the new Exy themed cafe, it was a quiet summer afternoon a roughly two weeks after the start of the semester. Cheerleader practise had begun and while she enjoyed the company of the girls, particularly Kaitlyn’s, she was glad to finally have some alone time at the new cafe and read up on her favourite ongoing Harry Potter fanfiction.

 

The music major spotted The Foxpaw and she was surprised nobody was talking about it – it was brightly orange, with foxes drawn in comic style playing with orange Exy balls and rolling around. The name itself was bold and in capital letters, an orange so bright it was probably visible from space. Not unlike everything else about Palmetto’s Exy team. Just a few months ago they had been in finals against the Edgar Allen Ravens, and they had actually won.

 

Walking in, the smell of freshly baked brownies engulfed Mae. Soft piano background music reached her ear, and there was a quiet bustling behind the counter, before a cashier, with orange hair and dressed in orange stepped to the register and smiled at her. There weren’t many people in the cafe, probably due to the fact that it was a warm afternoon and college students had better things to do, like getting drunk.

 

“Welcome to the Foxpaw,” the cashier greeted her with their bright smile. The name tag read “THEY/THEM” next to some scrawling of what probably was their name, but unreadable. “What can I get you?”

 

“Just a large cappuccino,” Mae answered and took her wallet out to pay. “I’m Mae. What’s your name?”

 

The cashier chuckled and looked at their name tag. “I’m Xinyi,” they said, “nice to meet you.”

 

A few moments later she sat in a comfortable armchair in the back of the cafe, coffee in in her hands and her notebook on her table. This is how it’s supposed to be, she thought. As long as the exam stress was still weeks ahead, and even if the season started soon and practise was gonna be hell - she loved studying music and cheerleading. And this particular Harry Potter fanfiction.

 

Just when her eyes had found the exact paragraph she had stopped reading a few nights before, the door opened and a small blond walked in, followed by - holy shit, Kaitlyn? Was this a date?

 

As a member of the Vixens, she had noticed that Kaitlyn and Aaron had gone from hiding what they had - or, well,  _ not _ had - to being openly together, at least when the rest of the Exy team wasn’t around. As Kaitlyn’s friend and roommate during freshman year she knew that there was a lot more to it, with Andrew Minyard threatening her. Why he was so extremely protective of Aaron they had never really understood, but then you really don’t want to question a man with at least one knife.

 

The duo went up to Xinyi at the register and ordered, and when they sat down a few moments later by the windows, Mae realised that they hadn’t noticed her. She also noticed that Aaron wasn’t smiling, and neither was Katelyn, and they made absolutely no move to try to touch each other.

 

Then she noticed the black armbands. Oh.  _ Oh. _

 

Her fanfiction was suddenly forgotten and she discreetly took out her phone and propped her elbows up to the table, effectively getting a good camera angle at her soon to be murdered friend and hopefully hiding her face, should one of them look her way. She quickly snapped a few pictures, watching how they didn’t seem to be talking and when Kaitlyn got up to get the drinks Andrew impassively stared out of the window.

 

Kaitlyn came back to their table, setting down a tray with coffees and a brownie she put in front of the small blond. Bribery? Mae really didn’t understand what was going on, and when Andrew started eating the brownie without looking at Kaitlyn Mae felt her mouth hanging open. Too late she realised she had filmed the entire thing and quickly stopped to recording. This was definitely a weird dream. Or she was high.

 

“I think it’s cool that we’re meeting up, you know?” Kaitlyn’s voice was low but the cafe was nearly empty and almost eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from Xinyi behind the counter, doing whatever it was coffee shop baristas did. Hozier started playing, softly, quietly.

 

_ “Oh my god,” _ mouthed Mae when she saw Andrew nodding his head, briefly. It could have been a normal movement, if not for Kaitlyn’s words before. His foot under the table bopped up and down rhythmically, and if she wouldn’t be paying close attention she would not nice this.  _ Andrew Minyard listened to Hozier? _

 

“I mean, I know it means a lot to Aaron.” Kaitlyn continued as if Andrew had replied like a normal human having a conversation. “I know you’re probably doing this because Betsy said it would be good, but I’d like to get to know you, too.”

 

Mae gulped down her coffee and promptly burned her tongue, but that didn’t matter because right then Andrew answered.

 

“I’m doing this because Renee said she’d kick my ass if I disregard you.”

 

Renee? Renee Walker, actual angel and the nicer part of the Exy team? Mae was a fan. Now and forever. It seemed Kaitlyn couldn’t quite follow either, she was speechless. Mae pressed record on her phone camera again.

 

Andrew just calmly finished eating his brownie, then he looked up again. “Have you… have you had a summer.”

 

Mae cringed at that awful attempt at conversation but Kaitlyn immediately brightened and stopped looking like a scared rabbit when she started talking about her summer with her family and meeting her high school friends who had also been home for the summer. Andrew looked like he regretted every one of his life choices but he did not interrupt her, nor did he pretend he couldn’t hear her.

 

Suddenly, the door opened again and none other than Neil fucking Josten followed by actual Aaron Minyard stepped into the Foxpaw, Neil dressed in an oversized Palmetto hoodie. He froze for a second when he noticed Andrew and Kaitlyn, while Aaron raised his eyebrows suspiciously but smiled at Kaitlyn, who also looked a bit lost.

 

Mae had no idea what was going on but she pretended to be tapping on her phone so she seemed less suspicious. Was this a double date? 

 

Neil and Aaron sat next to their significant others after they had ordered, and Mae was quick to send some new pictures to the Vixen group chat, just in case. In case someone was going to be murdered. In case she was going to be murdered. Too late she realised that Kaitlyn would get that message too, but thankfully she was preoccupied by her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother and her boyfriend’s brother’s boyfriend. Mae assumed checking the messages in a group chat wouldn’t be a first priority.

 

“Funny how we’re accidentally on a double date,” Neil remarked after an awkward moment of silence. “This is a double date, right? That’s what it’s called?”

 

“Yes,” Andrew drawled and slurped his drink purposefully loud.

 

“What the fuck,” said Aaron softly, holding Kaitlyn’s hand.

 

_ Oh, what the fuck, _ indeed. Mae hoped nobody would die today, the Foxpaw was a really nice cafe and she surely intended on coming again. When she wasn’t dreaming.

 

Nobody died though, and after they’d left Mae was able to finish her coffee, but couldn’t focus on a word of her Harry Potter fanfiction. This was  _ good tea _ though, and opening the Vixen chat room she had over a hundred messages asking her if she was still alive after she had taken and sent those pictures. Smiling, she sent the video of Andrew asking Kaitlyn a normal question.

 

Somewhere, Kaitlyn ignored her buzzing phone (for now) because she was too busy kissing Aaron.

  
  



	2. Day Two (Kevin & Neil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiden does not care about sports. His best friend does, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look I wrote A Thing today

_ “Meet me at the court,” _ his dumb fuck of a best friend (Xinyi) had said.  _ “Let’s watch the game!” _

 

And Kaiden didn’t even care about fucking stickball, and his aro-ace ass definitely didn’t care about  _ “all those hot people, Kaiden!” _ or  _ “have you  _ seen _ Kevin Day, Allison Reynolds and Neil Josten next to each other? Throw in Dan Wilds and Matt Boyd and Renee Walker and Nicky and the twins and we don’t need a volcano to kill us all,” _ and no, Kaiden did not think the Palmetto State Foxes were as hot (destructive) as Vesuvius, the volcano that ended Pompeii, but if his dumb  _ fuck _ of a best friend (Xinyi) thought so then there was nothing he could do.

 

They were both geography majors, hence the volcano reference on a drunk night out, and even though Kaiden had attended an extensive cartography seminar just last week, he was lost. On his university campus. In the stickball stadium. That was  _ way _ too orange. Because he had never been there.

 

Also where the fuck was everybody? He had assumed the game would be well visited, since the Foxes won the champions-thing last semester. Not that Kaiden particularly cared. He cared about food. Only food.

 

Unlike Xinyi, who had been talking about this since the start of their semester. Which was why Kaiden was now here, standing between the orange chairs and holding the ticket in his from the late summer heat sweaty hand, dressed in an old orange shirt from Xinyi because he didn’t want to stand out too much. How did Kaiden even get  _ in _ here?

 

Suddenly a loud bang sounded through the stadium and Kaiden quickly hid behind a line of seats. Standing around lonely and clearly not knowing what Exy was would be suspicious, right? Or maybe he had just anxiety. Probably that.

 

The door to the court had been violently thrown open and two people were arguing, dressed in gym clothes and with lacrosse racquets in their hands, on the them with balls in his arms.

 

_ “Those are  _ Exy _ racquets,” _ he could hear his dumb fuck of a best friend’s (Xinyi’s) voice in his head. Kaiden shuddered.

 

“The freshmen are absolutely terrible,” one of the athletes almost screamed. “Their playing style disrupts everything we have worked towards last year!”

 

“Kevin, they’re only playing halves of halves,” the smaller one tried to reason.

 

Oh. So this was Kevin Day and Neil Josten, the famous strikers who, according to a fucktard were at National Court level. Kaiden shuddered again. Why the fuck did he know so much about those athletes? Oh, right, Xinyi.

 

“Don’t piss your pants,” Josten said and threw a ball in Kevin’s face.

 

“I need vodka,” Kevin said and disappeared inside.

 

Neil put down his Exy balls and stick, and ran a few laps.

 

Kaiden was intimidated but he also wanted to laugh? There was Kevin Day (probably, he couldn’t be sure, he wasn’t a dumb stickball fan like somebody else he knew (Xinyi)) and he drank vodka before games.

 

After what felt like ages to Kaiden (Neil had only run five rounds) Kevin returned, looking disappointed but not surprised.

 

“Coach hid the vodka and I can’t pick the lock to his office,” he complained when Neil stopped next to him. “I need alcohol. This is going to be terrible and we’ll all -”

 

Kevin was interrupted by classical music, so he took out his phone. A smile bigger than the sun appeared on his face, before a bit of panic settled.

 

“Asdfghjkl,” he said and picked up.

 

Did he just say asdfghjkl out loud, wondered Kaiden.

 

“HI JEREMY,” the Exy star screamed. Then he shut up, but the big smile stayed on his face. “BYE JEREMY I -” he screamed a few minutes later but that Jeremy had already stopped the call, judging by the pain on Kevin’s face.

 

“What did Jeremy say?” Asked Neil, who seemed a bit indifferent but nevertheless interested.

 

“He wished us good luck and told us we’d win this game,” Kevin replied, “but I didn’t tell him that I love him.”

 

Neil didn’t deign to answer.

 

“Bro,” Kevin said and hugged Neil out of nowhere. Neil awkwardly pretended to be a tree.

 

Luckily for Kaiden, the moment that increased in awkwardness every second was interrupted by yelling and loud noise as the stadium quickly filled up and the athletes disappeared.

 

Pretending to be one with the crowd, he asked the next best person where his seat was and shoved his ticket in their face without even seeing them.

 

“What the fuck, mate,” Xinyi’s voice brought Kaiden back to the real world - he was in a fucking stickball stadium and the orange hurt his eyes and he had just witnessed Kevin Day almost confessing his love to a Jeremy.

 

“Xinyi!” Kaiden yelled, relieved but also slightly confused. “You fucker! Why haven’t you recruited Kevin to our lgbt group yet? He literally almost confessed his love for a Jeremy guy on the phone but he hung up on him and - wait the tall one with black hair and the tattoo on his face is Kevin, right?”

 

Kaiden’s fuck of a best friend just looked at him. “Yes, that’s Kevin Day, and no, he’s only in love with Exy and people who play Exy, like his girlfriend. The Jeremy you’re talking about is Jeremy Knox, captain of the USC Trojans,” they explained deadpan. “Kevin is a fan. A big fan.”

 

Then they gripped Kaiden’s shirt and dragged him a few seat rows away and pushed him to a chair. “The game will only start in twenty minutes, but do tell me more about that conversation.” Xinyi smiled.

 

And so Kaiden did, and then he watched to game, watched Kevin playing extraordinarily well and watched Neil clapping him on the back, watched the striker’s be in perfect sync and scoring again and again and again.

 

The Foxes won, which surprised only Kevin.

 


	3. Day Three (Nicky & Allison)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nidya (Tennis player, student athlete at Palmetto) somehow ended up in a gay bar, I don't know how or why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The date and time on the fake twitter pics are of today and not of Halloween, because I only realised too late that I can change those, too. You go me.

“That shirt suits you really well,” said a male sounding voice softly, almost drowned out by the music playing inside the club.

 

“I know right?” Another voice excitedly answered, a higher pitch and probably a bit drunk. No surprise for Halloween. “And thanks for letting me do your makeup again, this time I totally got the skin tone correct.”

 

“You always get the skin tone correct!” The deeper voice protested, and burst into giggles.

 

Then Nidya recognized them, Nicky Hemmick and Allison Reynolds, student athletes at Palmetto. Nidya lived just a floor above them, being a Tennis player herself, and she was only mildly surprised to stumble across the two in Eden’s Twilight, the gay bar she had stumbled into by accident.

 

Allison’s giggles sounded through the night. “Thanks for helping me pick this Halloween outfit, earlier I was seeing Renee -”

 

“Like a date?”

 

“No, I mean yes, no, I want it to be?” Her words slurred around the edges.

 

“That’s all right. You know, Renee might be religious but she’s probably also religiously in love with you,” Nicky explained slowly. “You know, you’re just stuck in the mutual pining phase.”

 

“I am not pining!”

 

“Yeah you are!”

 

“Anyway,” Allison continued, “We were at this cafe, you know, the orange one? The Fox Tail? Paw? Yeah and like she was so  _ cute, _ with her pastel hair and black emo clothes like have you even  _ seen _ her?”

 

Nidya had seen Renee Walker on more than one occasion. And she was sure Nicky had, too. But Allison having a gay crush on her was news. Nidya was sitting on the dirty floor just around the corner from where the Exy athletes were having their drunk conversation.

 

Slowly she pulled out her phone, and upon unlocking it immediately turned down the brightness. Because she was a bit drunk, too, and because she really didn’t wanna get caught listening in.

 

/>

 

“I’ve seen Renee! We play Exy together!”

 

“But what if she’s not into girls?” Allison suddenly sounded small and insecure.

 

Nicky laughed a breathy laugh. “Renee does not dye her hair rainbow to be mistaken for a straight, Allison.”

 

Nidya choked on air. She  _ needed _ to tweet this. And yes, that she was indeed part of the gay@/palmetto squad on twitter, running fan accounts next to the official Palmetto State Twitter. (She got paid for the latter but couldn’t resist the former.)

  
  
/>

Then the music suddenly increased in volume, before the thick metal door shut again and Nidya could more feel than hear the heavy base. She quickly checked if she didn’t have any spelling mistakes. That would be awkward.

 

“Oh, there you are,” said a third voice that Nidya couldn’t immediately place.

 

“Aaron! Hi,” yelled Nicky cheerfully. “Weren’t you with Kaitlyn?”

 

“Yeah, I just wanted to find you to tell you we’re going back to campus. Also I love you. I’m only saying this because I’m drunk and I won’t repeat myself. You’re great and I’m bi and I’m sorry I’m an asshole. Bye.”

 

“Aaron,” Nicky choked but the door to the club was already opened and falling shut.

 

“He looooooves you,” Allison singsonged.

 

“Shut up or I’m telling everybody you have a crush on Renee,” Nicky replied, and Nidya thought she could hear the smile in his voice.

 

/>


	4. Day Four (Wymack & Abby & Bee)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xinyi is having a normal day, being the barista in The Foxpaw. That's until David Wymack, Abby Winfield and Betsy Dobson walk in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A day too late, but still! I'm happy with this chapter even though I only proofread like once.)
> 
> This might be my favourite chapter so far!! Happy reading.

Xinyi was having a normal, calm day at The Foxpaw. Meaning they tweaked the playlist before their manager arrived in the morning and What Does The Fox Say was now playing on repeat. Now they were simply waiting for someone to point it out or the manager having a mental breakdown because of it. A normal day. The autumn air outside was crisp but still warm, perfect inside weather, everything was perfect inside weather.

 

They had even finished their geography homework, and according to their and Kaiden’s unwritten code of friendship, Xinyi had unlocked bragging rights. It was of this reason that they were now texting Kaiden of their success and Kaiden’s failure (not exactly failure, the deadline for the small paper was in a week, they just exaggerated) to the extent that Xinyi didn’t notice the door to the foxpaw open and three adults entering the small cafe.

 

It was only when the three customers were standing right in front of the counter that Xinyi looked up, meeting the eyes of Betsy Dobson, university therapist, David Wymack, coach of the Exy team and Abby Winfield, said Exy team’s nurse.

 

Pushing their phone into their pocket, they put on their best customer service smile. “Welcome to the Foxpaw!” Xinyi greeted. “What can I get for you?”

 

Betsy Dobson smiled at them. “A green tea latte for me, please.”

 

“One cappuccino for me,” Abby Winfield added, still looking at the menu.

 

“A large espresso,” David Wymack said and sighed. “Still have evening practise with the lot,” he added more quietly, annoyed and fond.

 

Xinyi told them the price and after the three had paid told them they’d bring the drinks to their table, after all it was a slow midday. “It’s nice to have an Exy coach in an Exy themed cafe, by the way,” they added, “our team doesn’t come here often enough.”

 

“They’re not very… sociable,” the coach said sourly, grimacing.

 

“Thanks for your excitement and support,” Abby Winfield piped in. “We’re actually here because Renee recommended it to us. And besides, what could be better on an autumn day than having coffee?”

 

“It is indeed very… orange,” Betsy Dobson added thoughtfully.

 

“Oh, I just love the colour,” Xinyi said, smiling widely. They pointed at their orange hair.

 

The therapist smiled kindly. “The colour suits you.”

 

“Thank you!” Xinyi chuckled as they got to work on the drinks, and the trio of Exy staff (not only Exy staff) sat down around a table not too far from the counter.

 

Busying themselve with the coffee and tea, Xinyi hummed along to the quiet but insistent  _ wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow _ currently playing. They loved coffee, and tea, and the entire coffee shop atmosphere. There was just something magical about the smell, the smiles people smiled after receiving their coffee, and for some reason Xinyi also liked wiping tables and cleaning coffee machines.

 

And the  _ gossip. _ Oh, Xinyi would kill a man for the gossip they witnessed here. Which would also make amazing gossip content… Anyway, being a member of the gay @/palmetto fanaccount squad on twitter and also being the admin of The Foxpaw’s social media was amazing at worst and absolutely mind blowing on a normal day.

 

Okay, well no, it was pretty boring most of the time, because it was either obsessing over sports or random “I saw  _ this _ player taking  _ this _ course!” and besides, they had standards of not invading their fave’s privacy too much. Smiling, Xinyi remembered Kaiden’s confused stare when they’d told him that Jeremy Knox and Kevin Day were just the biggest fans of each other. Generally, seeing Kaiden confused was always a highlight in their day. (This way, everyday was a highlight.)

 

Carrying the drinks on a small tablet over to the parents of the Exy team (who were they even kidding, they were totally parent material) Xinyi smiled at their thanks and turned back to the counter.

 

“... that one time Kevin called you dad instead of coach?” Abby continued where she left off and the poor barista almost walked into a table.

 

“I was so embarrassed!” Wymack exclaimed. “Like what am I supposed to say to that?”

 

“I think it’s nice that he’s warming up to the concept of you being a father figure, David,” Betsy said soothingly.

 

Xinyi quickly got to work slowly wiping the tables near his three new favourite customers. Coach Wymack as a father figure in a non sexual way? Yes. Thank you. Kevin coming to terms that Coach Wymack was his father and Coach Wymack being a proud but panicked dad? Yes. Thank you.

 

“Andrew seems happy,” Abby said thoughtfully after taking a sip of her cappuccino.

 

Wymack chuckled. “He puts effort into his practise and his games, which means none of the freshmen have managed to score on him yet.”

 

Xinyi could see Betsy smiling.

 

“If only Neil would help those poor freshmen instead of being all smug,” Wymack continued, “and Kevin is helpless in those situations too, he’s just like ‘you are terrible’ and then roast them like those youtubers roast themselves.”

 

“Oh, I watched one of those videos!” Betsy laughed. “It was actually really nice, and I think it’s a refreshing way to put one’s self out there, and understanding one’s own perception of self.”

 

“Always with the analysing, Bee,” Abby said fondly.

 

_ Bee? What a cute nickname for the therapist, _ Xinyi thought, belatedly realising that they’d already wiped the table in front of them twice.

 

Just then the door opened with a friendly jingle and Kaiden walked in, dressed in an oversized shirt printed with the map of Westeros from the Game of Thrones books. Yes, the map was the same in the books and the season, but ‘books before movies!’ was a concept Xinyi would fight the White Walkers for.

 

“Yo, Kaiden!” Xinyi called, unable to not smile at the sight of Kaiden’s slightly confused stare as to why Xinyi wasn’t behind the counter.

 

“Aren’t you getting off your shift now?” Kaiden asked, and yes, looking at his phone screen he was indeed off now.

 

“Oh, right,” Xinyi said, feeling like they caught some of Kaiden’s Confused. The girl on the shift after him was already behind the counter, waving at them in greeting.

 

Kaiden smiled. “Up for binging season three?”

 

Xinyi could never resist a Game of Thrones marathon on a free afternoon, especially when the autumn weather was windy and full of leaves flying around, and Kaiden knew. “I’ll be right back, gotta change out of this and tweet something real quick.”

 

Kaiden just rolled his eyes, while Wymack, Abby and Betsy hadn’t paid much attention to the geography students with an obsession of fantasy worlds, as they were too caught up in a video of a fan trying to roast the USC Trojans and failing. (That fan was a PSU student athlete called Nidya but they didn’t know that.)

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is all gen and stuff BUT... consider... Kaiden x Xinyi


	5. Day Five (Jean & Alvarez, Jeremy & Kevin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time skip! It's championships already, and Montague is a blackliner from Penn State, playing against USC. Who'd have guessed Kevin Day would be there? Or that Jean and Alvarez are actually good friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jerejean is strong with this one, I guess I can't not write it.

It was unusual for two of the best universities to be facing each other so soon into championships. And yet, Penn State was to play against USC in the first death match of the season.

 

And yes, Montague was nervous.

 

Usually, Penn State would have a fifty-fifty percent chance of winning against their long time friendly rivals, and everybody was okay with it. The Trojans were an extraordinary team that deserved every respect. But this year, while they were changing to their uniforms, they knew it was going to be their first and last game in this year’s championships. With Moreau on the red and golden line, not even the Ravens at their best would have any chance of defeating them.

 

Montague was a fourth year senior, and he still had next year with Penn State, but for most of his friends this was the last game. As their coaches and then their captain, striker Alicia, gave them a motivating speech, all he could feel was fondness for this team. They would give it their all and make themselves and the Trojans proud.

 

Because, yes, Jeremy Knox’s approval meant more than a hundred won championships. Everybody knew that the Ravens had never earned that approval, but they had still been the best. But that was back when they had the three best players in NCAA Exy. Now, without them, the Ravens were nothing but an angry team tending to violence.

 

The Ravens’ incompetence would not save Penn State from this though, Montague knew when he stood on the court in his backliner position, facing Jeremy Knox as his mark while the Trojan’s goal was being protected by not only Laila Dermott, but also Alvarez and Moreau, a team that could probably stand against a hurricane and not lose and inch of ground.

 

Then the game started and Montague reacted. He blocked Jeremy’s racquet because of course, _of course_ Jeremy would have the ball in his possession two seconds after the game started and Montague caught the ball, passing it back to his goalie who passed it to the dealer, who was intercepted by Jeremy in an impossible feat.

 

The fans screamed extremely loud at the bold move the Trojan captain pulled off and Montague allowed his focus to shift for a few seconds, just to be completely stunned when he saw none other than Kevin (probably making Jeremy’s) Day in first row, wearing a Trojan jersey and waving a banner with gold, shiny print reading “I LOVE YOU JEREMY.”

 

Next to him were Neil Josten and - Renee Walker? - okay but what? Neil holding a scarf that simply read “Alvarez” and Renee with a Gryffindor scarf and a sign that read “Jean Moreau, 29”?

 

That was when Jeremy scored.

 

But Montague just made eye contact with his defense team and shrugged. They might be a bit disappointed, but they were not surprised to have taken a goal this early in the game. “C’mon guys show some emotion!” Their captain Alicia screamed as she attacked the Trojans singlehandedly, trusting that her fellow striker and dealer would back her up in offense.

 

Now, you could say the Trojans were an outstanding team, but so was Penn State. There was just one small problem: Moreau.

 

He moved like water intercepted the striker’s path, who managed - by sheer luck - to pass the ball to the other striker, a sophomore, who was uneven on his feet so when Alvarez stepped into his path in the same watery fashion - except that she froze to ice - the striker fell butt first to the floor and the ball passed half court through the air, giving Montague some work to do.

 

So the Trojans were fast. Good thing Penn state was fast, too, and a few minutes later Alicia scored.

 

Jeremy flashed Montague a smile and a thumbs up. “You guys are good!”

 

“Thanks mate,” Jian replied. “You too.”

 

 _This_ was why playing the Trojans was always fun.

 

Throughout the first half the game went like this: The Trojans would either score or almost score, before Montague managed to get the ball across half court, where the Penn State Strikers would attempt and fail to get past the wall that was Moreau and Alvarez.

 

Friendly banter between friendly body checks and clumsy helping each other to each other’s feet again had Montague smiling even though the score gap was getting bigger every ten minutes. It was 1-4 and Penn State was losing when Alicia outstepped Jean with an impossible move and scored the 2-4.

 

“Merde!” Jean shouted as the Trojan goal lit up red.

 

“No, _you_ are a cabbage!” Alvarez shouted back at him without missing a beat.

 

Jean said something in French that made Jeremy laugh out loud and everybody else look on in confusion. Montague, having grown up with a Canadian dad, managed to make out “banana pie” and “cabbage isn’t actually that good.”

 

“You speak French?” Montague asked in curiosity, since he was standing the closest to the USC Captain.

“‘M learning it to be able to swear back at Jean,” Jeremy said with a small, fond smile, “but I usually just laugh at Alvarez trying to imitate him.”

 

“It’s called friendship,” Alvarez shouted sourly at her captain and friend. “You’re just a merd!”

 

“Honestly, babe?” Laila Dermott piped in, “You speak Spanish but you don’t know what merde means?”

 

“Spanish isn’t French,” Alvarez sulked.

 

Jean patted her head affectionately (while laughing at her expression) until the referees announced to please just continue the game in second half, as the 45 minutes had passed.

 

Playing the Trojans was something else, and Montague loved every second of it.

 

Second half went a bit like first, except that now Neil and Renee screamed along with Kevin and Jean was visibly embarrassed while Jeremy once blew an air kiss towards the stands. Kevin was silent for a few minutes after that and Montague had begun worrying that his vocal cords might have snapped from all the screaming, but then he resumed screaming as usual.

 

The game ended with a 3-7, Trojan’s favour, but instead of shaking hands they hugged.

 

“Great game,” Montague told Jeremy, “you should be proud of the defense you got there.”

 

“Oh I am,” he replied, smiling softly.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JEREMY SMILED I AM IN TEARS I LOVE THIS BOY SO MUCH  
> JEAN IS HAPPY I REPEAT JEAN IS HAPPY JEAN IS HAPPY JEAN IS HAPPY I AM HAPPY


	6. Day Six (Kevin & Renee)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renee teaches Kevin how to knit, Kevin teaches Renee French. Jian (an oc) is there to witness it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This would not have been possible without a lot of help from a lot of people. (Wow I sound like a published author help me)
> 
> First of all I'd like to say thanks to Prem, or trojean.tumblr.com for the original
> 
> [prompt that I fell in love with](http://trojean.tumblr.com/post/172683089356/kevin-and-renee-become-close-friends-in-renees)
> 
> Then I'd like to thank the whole squad in the AFTGBIGBANG Discord Chat for your support, especially when I didn't know the word "ball of wool." You go guys, languages are awesome.
> 
> I'd like to give a big thanks and a hug to Catherine, [jsteneil.tumblr.com](https://jsteneil.tumblr.com) and [cave_canem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cave_canem) here on ao3, for the help with the French. Without you this would be cabbage I guess
> 
> And lastly, Noa, [queen-of-seventeen.tumblr.com](https://queen-of-seventeen.tumblr.com) and [queenofseventeen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofseventeen) here on ao3, for proof reading this, thank you.
> 
> Thank you guys. Enjoy.

“Seriously, I really need to get fucked by something other than my life,” Jian said in resignation as the orange haired cashier in The Foxpaw told him that the cafe didn’t have pumpkin spice lattes, as it was early spring and easter was around the corner.

 

“I’d recommend the green tea chai latte with extra whipped cream,” a soft voice behind him sounded and a short, white-and-rainbow haired girl stepped next to him. “It’s really good,” Renee continued. “Out of curiosity, how did you not know pumpkin spice only exists around Halloween?”

 

“Halloween was like, yesterday, bro,” Jian tried to joke. In truth he simply had not known...

 

“I think he’s high,” a male voice chirped, and when Jian turned he looked into the face of Kevin Day, Queen of the Court.

 

“Yeah, I’m definitely hallucinating,” Jian said and dismissed Kevin. “I’ll have what Renee said, please,” he said to the cashier who nodded.

 

“Hey, wanna sit with us?” Renee asked after Jian had payed, “Kevin is gonna teach me some French and I’m gonna show him how to knit.”

 

“Sure, why not?” Jian said. He waited around for Renee and hallucinated Kevin to order - everybody else could see him too? He even interacted with the cashier, calling them by name? - and after they had paid they sat down around a small, round table by the windows.

 

“So, introductions I guess?” Renee smiled, “Kevin, this is Jian, he majors in Religious Studies like me and we did a few group projects together. Jian, this is Kevin Day, from the Exy team.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” the striker said and held out a hand. His body language was different from all interviews Jian had seen, and different from his fierce force in a game.

 

Jian took his hand and was surprised at the firm but friendly grip. This had to be a dream, right? “I’ve never studied French, but I remember my grandmother showing me how to knit a when I was young.”

 

“Really? That’s amazing,” Renee said in that angelic way of hers. “Let’s start with knitting then, shall we?”

 

“Okay,” Kevin said and curiously watched as Renee got out two sets of needles and a few balls of yarn in different colours.

 

“I’m gonna start with the orange colour, because, well, orange you know?” She laughed, and to Jians immense surprise so did Kevin. Which didn’t make sense, he had never seen Kevin laugh like this, so how did his subconscious come up with it?

 

“Everything is orange,” Jian said.

 

“I agree and I love it,” the cashier with the orange hair piped in while setting a tray with three drinks to their table between the balls of wool. “Have fun, guys.”

 

Renee thanked them and then showed Kevin how to do a loop, undid it and did it again. “Now you,” she ordered, and Kevin chose a bright red colour.

 

“I want to knit a scarf in Trojan colours,” he shyly admitted.

 

Jian couldn’t help the smile growing on his face. “Oh, I love the Trojans, too!”

 

“They’re absolutely amazing, the best ever,” Kevin gushed, almost spilling tea all over everything, “and Jeremy Knox is my friend!”

 

“Omg I know!” Jian smiled. He was having a conversation with an imaginary person. “That is so amazing!”

 

“Jeremy is wonderful,” Renee agreed. “Now, Kevs, try to do exactly as I do.” She did the loop slowly again and Kevin managed to make one on the third try that looked acceptable. Renee pushed a dark green colour into Jian’s hands, who was really proud at getting the loop right at the first try.

 

Renee then took two of the knitting needles and tightened the loop around them, continuing to create more loops around them. After explaining every single step to Kevin and Jian, she undid hers and handed her needles to Jian while helping Kevin with the other pair of needles.

 

“So, now comes the difficult part,” Renee explained after they had done the task. “Knitting the first row is always a mess, but don’t panic if it isn’t symmetrical yet. Try to keep your hands steady. Can I use yours to demonstrate to Kevin?” She asked Jian, who handed her his loops of green wool. How she wanted to demonstrate this to Jian’s hallucination was a mystery. Maybe all of this wasn’t real?

 

With a quiet thanks she slowly started knitting the first few meshes, explaining everything while sipping her tea. Kevin imitated her as best as he could, and after the first row Renee gave the needles to Jian who started with the second row.

 

Jian sat back and enjoyed his green tea chai latte with extra whipped cream.

 

“Now everything all over again?” Kevin said, a bit helplessly and looked at his work. He hadn’t missed anything, just some loops were too loose and others were too tight, but for a first attempt it was actually really good, Jian thought.

 

“You did really good!” Renee said with a hint of pride in her voice. “And yes, now you do the same until your skein runs out or you reached your desired length.”

 

Kevin sighed dramatically and sipped his drink. “I want to practise Exy,” he whined. The rainbow haired goalie giggled and took Kevin’s started scarf to continue it, but he took it from her hands. “I want to do this by myself. Is that okay?”

 

“Of course,” she replied. “Should we start with some French, then? I’ve been thinking to talking to Jean with it, and the language sounds really beautiful.”

 

“I think it would suit you,” Kevin admitted with a small smile.

 

Renee nodded. “Also, me and Allison have been dating for a few weeks now.”

 

“Just don’t let it get in the way of your game, also by the way I’m happy for you,” he said.

 

“Thanks, Kevs,” Renee laughed.

 

He stretched his fingers and sighed. “You never said knitting is this exhausting.”

 

Jian chuckled at this. “It’s like a sport, if you practise it you will get better.”

 

The striker just sighed again. For a few minutes they sipped their hot beverages in silence and Jian knit a few more rows, then Kevin took out a paper and started writing down the alphabet, except with a few French letters Jian didn’t know.

 

“Okay, so”, Kevin started, “this is the alphabet, we can go through pronunciation later.”

 

“Shouldn’t we go through pronunciation now?” Renee asked curiously.

 

“Only if we still want to be here tomorrow,” Kevin gravely replied. Then he wrote  _ je m'appelle Kevin _ on the paper. “Do you understand this?”

 

“I take it means something like ‘I’m Kevin?’” She asked. “How do you pronounce it?”

 

“Yes.” Kevin answered and continued to scribble. “Okay, so, hello is  _ boh-shour _ , with a soft sh sound,” he scribbled it down. “Please is  _ sil toh ple _ , just accept it as it is. Thank you is  _ mersi! _ , like those chocolates Abby likes. Good night is  _ bonnui. _ Just accept that spelling.”

 

He handed her the sheet of paper.

hello = bonjour   
please = s'il te plaît   
thank you = merci   
good night = bonne nuit

 

“Um, thank you,” Renee said. “Has French always been this complicated?”

 

“I haven’t even started with le and la, Renee,” Kevin deadpanned. “Let’s continue, _comment_ _vas-tu_ means _how are you_ , you pronounce it _commoh_ _vah-tüh_ ,...”

 

Jian slowly got up. This was slowly getting creepy. His hallucination was being way too obsessive about French.

 

“Thank you guys for the company and the knitting and, uh, France,” he said, “but I think I’ve got, uh, theology right now, so, uh-”

 

“We had theology yesterday,” Renee reminded him, but smiled knowingly.

 

Kevin stood up and excitedly bro-hugged Jian. “Nice meeting you!”

 

Jian absentmindedly touched Kevin’s shoulder. It felt surprisingly real. “Wait so you’re actually here? I haven’t been daydreaming this up?”

 

Kevin looked at him confused. “You thought I’m not real?”

 

“Well, in my defense, you did just knit,” Jian tried to explain. “And whoa, Renee, you and Allison are actually finally together? Congratulations.”

 

“Yes, uh, thank you, Jian,” Renee said.

 

And with a last “see you” Jian left The Foxpaw, almost running. What a weird day. Did they really not serve pumpkin spice lattes all year around?  _ This _ was why he was single.


	7. Day Seven (Neil & Dan & Matt)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A university professor decides to visit The Foxpaw - she gets some good tea to later share with the other members of staff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize,,
> 
> ... as this is not much Neil and Dan and Matt and more of "my OCs set up their own fake dating coffee shop ff and one of them definitely knows what's up"

The business professor decided to drop by the Exy themed campus cafe that day, thinking that spending time in an orange place full of young students would energize her to start reading and correcting some diploma papers about topics Kierra herself found boring.

 

The Foxpaw however was more crowded than the would have expected, and she found herself in line between one of her students and his friends. Matt Boyd was a good student, and what he lacked in professionalism he made up with enthusiasm. And he was probably the nicest backliner in the university’s Exy team, given the reputation the entire team held even on their own campus.

 

Next to Matt stood Dan Wilds, the captain of the sports team that Kierra Holland had seen on TV, and next to her Neil Josten. It was hard not to know his face, and even though he had looked small in the news he looked even smaller now, next to Matt and dressed in an orange PSU bunnyhug.

 

“I don’t know what to get,” Josten said aimlessly into nowhere as Wilds gently pushed him up to the register, where a ginning barista with orange hair stood.

 

“He’ll take a chai latte frappuccino with like, every syrup you got,” Wilds said helpfully. “The same for me, please.”

 

Boyd chuckled and repeated the same order for him, starting small talk with the orange haired barista. Josten got out his wallet but Boyd pushed his smaller friend aside and handed his card over to the barista.

 

“I can pay,” Josten said, and if Kierra Holland hadn’t known better she would have thought he was confused.

 

“Nope,” Boyd said, “We adopted you, we pay for you.”

 

“Just accept it, Neil,” Wilds said and put and arm around the smaller one’s shoulders. “We’re your parents now.”

 

Matt ruffled a baffled Neil’s hair as the trio went to wait for their drinks. Dimly Kierra remembered some of the other teachers talking about Wilds and Boyd being in a relationship, and the Foxes - everybody referred to the Exy team as the Foxes nowadays - were a tight knit friend group.

 

The thought of the scarred boy being taken care of by his friends brought a smile to her face, and she ordered the same drink the Foxes had ordered.

 

“It’s nice to see them happy, right professor?” The barista said, their “THEY/THEM” on the nametag eye catching on the orange shirt. (The name beneath it was unreadable.)

 

“It is, yes,” Kierra Holland replied, noticing that she was the last in line and had no pressure to cram through her bag for her wallet. “Boyd is in my business course, so I know him quite well.”

 

“Matt is great!” The barista exclaimed, then they caught sight of something behind the professor and their face lit up  _ even more. _ If that was physically possible. (It wasn’t, but it happened anyway.)

 

The door jingled open and a disheveled student staggered in, his dark hair standing up in all directions. When he saw the barista, his face mirrored the smile on their face.

 

“Xinyi!” the newcomer almost yelled as he came to a stop next to the professor and awkwardly hugged his friend over the counter. Friend? Or significant other? The day was becoming more and more amusing for the uni professor to watch. This would make good tea.

 

“Kaiden, ‘sup?” The barista - Xinyi - said, leaning against the counter. “Aren’t you supposed to sleep or I don’t know, like, be in class?”

 

“Class got cancelled, but not important,” Kaiden said, seemingly out of breath. “But I have this other problem.”

 

“That requires coffee?” Xinyi’s brows shot into the air.

 

“No, um, yeah? You know my sister, right? She convinced my parents I am in a relationship with a trans person and you know how I rarely talk to my parents, ever?” Kaiden rambled, moving his hands around a lot.

 

“Yeah, it’s not healthy,” Xinyi said, now looking officially confused.

 

“Also not important right now,” Kaiden said, making a gesture like  brushing off a fly. “They told me I should definitely bring this person home over easter holidays!”

 

Xinyi just looked at Kaiden, their expression turning from confused to deadpan.

 

“What?”

 

Xinyi looked at Kaiden for a minute. “So why are you telling me this?”

 

“Okay so I had this brilliant idea,” Kaiden explained, “you’re my best friend, you’re trans, you were going to visit me during easter break anyway… do you wanna be my fake dating friend and significant other to spare me from having to talk to my parents for more than just small talk?”

 

Xinyi looked at Kierra Holland like she was a camera and they were in The Office. Then they turned to Kaiden, who looked increasingly hopeful. “Under one condition. I’ll be your significant annoyance and will have the right to annoy you at all times, forever.”

 

“Great!” Kaiden said. “See you in evening class!”

 

Faster than when he came in, Kaiden was gone.

 

Sheepishly, Xinyi blushed as he handed the professor back her credit card. “I hope you didn’t mind the wait.”

 

She smiled at them. “Young love brightens everyone's day, doesn’t it?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been GenWeek!
> 
> I'm surprised and proud that I managed to write every day and finish this on time. Makes me feel like a writer during nano... oh wait, it is campnano these days and I didn't write anything for that yet. Oops.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed these things! I enjoyed writing them. Also the comments I got last week made every "oh shit I need to finish this today" worth it. Thank you guys.
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr at [thespacebetweenworlds](https://thespacebetweenworlds.tumblr.com/)


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